The Blue Hour
by Brix
Summary: It was his choice to make, in his palm the physical manifestation of his brother's membership in the organization, the organization that wanted him now...Minor SasuSaku


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto; I own only my thoughts and an eerily large supply of books.

The Blue Hour

~x-x-x~

Uchiha Sasuke glared into the white-painted ceiling, willing it to crumble under his fierce gaze, wanting it to collapse and cover him and the room with rubble. He desired for it to be nothing like the blank canvas it made itself out to be, encouraging the random thoughts that bounced around his normally calm and focused mind. He utterly loathed the inability to focus on the crucial decision at hand and every time he drew his mind to it, another thought or memory would surface and steal his attention.

His jaw clenched and his black, cold eyes narrowed as he lay on his bed, his hand balled into a fist, clenching the heavy ring in his palm, a ring, like the room he stayed in, that once belonged to his brother, his _deceased_ older brother, killed by his own hand in revenge. Now, Sasuke was berating himself over it, after finding out Itachi was never the crazed, evil lunatic who killed their clan because he wanted to "test his abilities" and that Sasuke didn't die that night too because he "wasn't worth killing" but because Itachi couldn't kill his little brother and the vile monster was Danzo who ordered the massacre and left his brother, nii-san, with a Hobson's choice. He would have sent a squad of ANBU ninja to do the deed and Sasuke wouldn't have lived.

But Itachi martyred himself, and Sasuke was alive and lived off the lie that his brother told him, hating him, seeking vengeance, all because his loving nii-san wanted to give him a reason for living, no matter how awful it was, and he wanted to atone for the crimes he committed, the pacifist. Sasuke flopped onto his side and chose to glare at the wall, where a window interrupted it, making it fuller than that blank canvas above him. He cracked open his callused hand and eyed the ring that lay in his palm, the physical manifestation of Itachi's membership to the terrorist organization Akatsuki, all apart of the illusion he fashioned. Now that position was being offered to his otouto, Sasuke.

The ring itself was simple in design. A simple silver band widening at the top to hold the round and smooth red crystal, the black kanji painted underneath the crystal, meant "red" and it clearly was valuable, seeing the possessive nature of the Akatsuki members toward their own rings. The exact value and the reason as to why was completely unknown to Sasuke, the crystal wasn't a ruby, garnet, or any precious or semi-precious stone. It felt like glass, cool and smooth, but it was sturdy and hard like a diamond, as demonstrated with the powerful punches and explosions it could withstand. Clearly, the rings of Akatsuki were made for battle. Sasuke vaguely pondered if the ring could withstand Kirin, his powerful lightning attack.

Along with Kirin, Sasuke also had his kekkei genkai, his bloodline trait, the Sharingan, the notorious trait of members of the Uchiha clan, and this is his one tool he utilizes the most. Sasuke activated it, his eyes turning a bright red, and three black tomoe, appearing in his iris, spinning slowly. His eyes narrowed and he glared at the ring.

He sat up abruptly and chucked the ring into the wall. It connected it a booming clang and dropped onto the hard floor, clattering and settled on the cold, hard ground, glaring back at its thrower with its large red crystal. The black kanji stared at him upside down with its plain face. Sasuke seethed at its perfection, its unharmed status and glared at the wall where it had connected. The plain wall was _crumbling_ from the ring's impact. The spot was just slightly larger than the ring itself, but it was a noticeable indent. Where the smooth wall met the spot was jagged, and the indent was course and paler than the outer wall.

Sasuke balled his fists and stalked over to disturb the ring's resting place and picked up the stupid thing, his eyes red from the Sharingan. He stalked back over to the bedside and opened a drawer on the bedside table, dropping the ring inside and slamming it shut. Out of sight, out of mind. He sat back down on the bed and immediately took to glaring at the floor, his arms resting on his knees and his rough hands dangling limply. The sixteen-year-old man- he never really could be considered a teen nor a child- he grew up much too quickly, allowed his eyes to fade back to their normal black color, his anger temporarily subsiding.

"Dang it Itachi," he growled lowly and cast a glance towards the drawer, all the while blaming his brother. Uchiha Madara, an old, but powerful and vengeful ninja, founder and leader of the Akatsuki had offered him the ring in the first place, a subtle indication that he wished Sasuke to take Itachi's place in the organization. He had given him time to think over the proposition, leaving the young clan heir with an ominous remark if he had the Akatsuki as an ally, Konohagakure would surely fall under them and Sasuke could complete his revenge. Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't be able to stop all of them if they attacked at once.

He again stood up and paced to the bedroom door. He glanced outside warily, making sure no one was nearby dumb enough to snoop or pester him. Sasuke had a decision to make after all he wanted no interruptions. Satisfied he shut the door, and locked it. Quickly and silently he moved to the window and peered outside, his black eyes cold. He drew the blinds and ran through other tasks of extreme privacy.

The destruction Pein had caused to Konoha, completely obliterating it with an earthquake, had quickly reached Akatsuki ears in Amegakure. Madara, who was always eager to insult and degrade Pein, had been unaware of the man's power and thought himself superior in strength. Now Madara held his tongue and quickly dismissed himself from the Akatsuki lair with a mission.

Sasuke stalked back to the drawer and took the ring back out. He had seen the aftereffects of Naruto's fight with Pein, and learned of how he had slued all of the Six Bodies of Pein some with a single hit. Pein himself had come back injured, but fully alive. The blue haired impassive Konan was one of the only uninjured, as to the reason why it was largely unknown to him. Now the young Uchiha heir had a desire to see the damage done for himself and what was being down to prevent another attack like it.

In the back of his mind a thought bubbled. Naruto was clearly all right, but was his former sensei, Hatake Kakkashi? And Sakura, was she alive? Sasuke had long since been aware of her current position as prodigy medical-ninja, so it would make sense she would be in the hospital tending to the injured. So when Pein demolished Konoha and if the building collapsed in on her…

He mentally slapped himself for fretting. He had severed his bonds with Cell Seven three years ago. They were of no importance to him. Itachi may have been concerned over former teammates, but he wasn't his nii-san He wasn't that man. He is Uchiha Sasuke and that is all he has ever been.

Waiting around for Madara to show back up and grant him permission to go to Konoha would be a waste of time. The conceited and iniquitous old man probably wouldn't allow him anyway. Sasuke had no loyalties to him other than through Akatsuki anyway, and he refused to allow himself to be a puppet.

In the silence and solitude of his current room, Sasuke stood in the middle and meticulously performed the necessary hand signs and a clone was formed in a poof of smoke. It the exact likeness of himself, an artificial twin, and was wearing the same clothes as him. The white, high-collared shirt, unzipped down to his diaphragm, navy pants and black boots with the sandal body. The indigo wrap and pale lavender rope belt was hidden underneath the black Akatsuki cloak, complete with various crimson clouds. Sasuke never realized how much his dress emphasized his previous and current affiliations. The colors of his clothes were of Otogakure, the style as well. The only remnant of Konoha was the large read and white uchiwa fan on his back, the symbol of the Uchiha clan, the only affiliation he had kept from the village.

Turning, Sasuke walked away from the clone as it went and sat on the bed in his place, filling in for him if anyone were to come and check. He had nothing to worry about, many Akatsuki members were self-centered anyway and only the members of his team Taka, would come and check, but even then they were used to him locking himself away from all human contact for periods at a time, even if it were just the recesses of his mind. With no other thought Sasuke left the building and into the rainy village of Amegakure, making his way to Konohagakure…

~x-x-x~

Tsunade, powerful hokage of Konoha, strong and willful warrior, had her blonde head buried in her folded arms, her amber eyes dripping with tears. An empty bottle of sake lay on its side on the desk. She felt truly at a loss with her apprentice Shizune's death by Pein. The small brunette had been her constant companion for so long. It didn't feel right to be left without her; she was after all more of the responsible one.

A rapping on the door, took the hokage out of her mourning. She kept her face buried. The only ones who knocked so formally were usually ANBU, jounin and chunin, such as her other apprentice Haruno Sakura and even then they were used to seeing her fast asleep at the desk, ignoring the mounds of paperwork that sat beside her.

"Hokage-sama," the placid and emotionless male voice reached her ears. She picked her head up, her lips in a pout, eyelids lowered, giving the appearance of someone who had more interest in a nap then what they had to say. The young man, Sai, stared at her with blank inky eyes. He was wearing all black, and the pure white vest and arm guards, the colors of Foundation ANBU, Danzo's branch. In all honesty the vest matched his skin tone, which was unusually pallid. The black Konoha forehead protector kept his short black hair out of his eyes.

"Sai," she greeted blandly, eyeing him with suspicion. Naruto and Sakura may have befriended the boy but he worked for Danzo, who could not, would not be trusted, "This is unusual for you to just pop in. What is it?"

"Hokage-sama," His eyes lowered, as if he were unsure. She noticed his ANBU mask was nowhere on his person, "I…I do not want to work under Danzo. I cannot. Danzo was planning on Pein killing you, Hokage-sama, so he could initiate a coup and become Hokage. He was not expecting for Naruto-kun to come back and defeat him. I suspect he is working with the Akatsuki, as he gave the order to move underground just hours before the initial attack. Hokage-sama, if you would allow it, I wish to continue to work with Naruto and Sakura, but not with Danzo hanging over me. I will tell you anything about the Foundation, about Root. Everything that is to my knowledge."

Tsunade sat and listened to the boy who had never wanted anything before, never felt anything before, not until he started to learn about emotions and bonds. He sound so devoid of any hint of sincerity, but the words he used and how at times he sounded so frantic and desperate to be allowed, those little traits made up for it. His eyes, as vacant as they were, were honest.

"Sai, shut it and listen," she barked and he immediately stopped talking and stood in attention, watching and waiting for her next words, "Tell me tomorrow morning, nine thirty, gather the rest of Cell Seven and bring them with you. As for tonight, stay with them. No Sai, do not follow them into the bathroom. Respect other people's privacy, that way they don't hit you and you keep friends longer. I don't care what you read in a book! The buddy system applies to everything other than violating your buddy's privacy! Anyway, stay with them, and they'll help you fight off any other Foundation members who come after you if your defection in made known," Tsunade rubbed her temples and made a note to get Sakura to explain to Sai what the buddy system applied to. She had the patience, but then again, a temper to match.

"Hokage-sama, thank you," Sai bowed to her and walked out, a fake smile on his face. She sighed, gaining a deeper respect for Sakura and Naruto. They certainly had the patience and forgiving nature to accommodate someone like Sai and someone like Sasuke.

"Hokage," she froze at the voice, her head sprang up to face the intruder.

"You!" she growled standing, eyeing Sasuke's apparel. She stood up, ready to attack and call in an army of ANBU, but Sasuke made no move, but kept leaning against the wall as if it were nothing.

"I'm not here to attack. I'm here to make an offer, due to some extenuating circumstances," Sasuke spoke in a monotone, "I'd prefer it if you sat down and not call in shinobi. It was already dangerous enough for me to even contemplate coming here."

"What do you want Uchiha?" she snarled, and remained standing, refusing to listen to a snot-nosed brat.

"As you know, Itachi is dead and he was a member of the Akatsuki. Uchiha Madara has just offered his position to me. I want to see Madara dead, as someone who assisted in killing the clan. Danzo too, played apart and his death could benefit Konoha as well. I'll take the position in Akatsuki as a spy for Konoha, and in return. I want to be executioner for both Madara and Danzo. I have reason to suspect they were each other's coconspirator. I'll also return to the village when my mission is complete," He spoke with an eerie calmness, no doubt due to his years of being in Otogakure. Tsunade thought over his proposal, taking it in consideration, every risk and every possible outcome. She sat down at her desk and pondered, watching him as he leaned up against the wall.

"Uchiha, as long as you enter this village you are safe, but not while wearing that cloak. Clearly you haven't thought of the outcomes, the risks involved. What would make you chose to do something like this? You have had no interest in returning to the village in the past; have eluded every single team I have sent after you. Why now?" she barked, demanding an answer from the young man. Sasuke cast his glance to the floor, his expression blank other than the regretful glare he held.

"I have no interest in the Akatsuki. I wanted to come back when my revenge was complete but I learned of Danzo's involvement with the massacre and why it really happened, making coming back here living with a sense of incomplete business," he spoke lowly. His eyes remaining rooted to the spot on the floor, his arms crossed. Tsunade spotted the bitterness flash in his dark eyes and the regret as he spoke of his brother before both were buried six feet under a façade of emptiness.

"So you want to atone. Very well Uchiha, come back tomorrow before dawn and I'll explain the mission to you. I want a rendezvous once every fortnight, if possible. This will be kept secret between you and myself and a few well trusted others. I know you know them, quite well," Sasuke had no doubt in his mind of whom she was referring to, and he was secretly pleased. They in no doubt would be demanding to know who was the Akatsuki spy was when they found out, "You're dismissed Uchiha." Tsunade waved him off and he vanished into the black night, heading back to the Akatsuki lair to accept Madara's offer, unnoticed…

~x-x-x~


End file.
